Rosmarinus officinalis subsp. valentinus, 2014

Ferrer-Gallego, P. Pablo, Ferrer-Gallego, Raúl, Roselló, Roberto, Peris, Juan B., Guillén, Alberto, Gómez, José & Laguna, Emilio, 2014, A new subspecies of Rosmarinus officinalis (Lamiaceae) from the eastern sector of the Iberian Peninsula, Phytotaxa 172 (2), pp. 61-70 : 62-64

Rosmarinus officinalis L. subsp. valentinus P.P.Ferrer, A.Guillén & Gómez Nav. , subsp. nov. ( Fig. 1 )

A Rosmarinus officinalis forma typo differt planta saemper prostrata, non erecta, cum 15-20 cm alt., multicaulis, caulibus radicantis-stoloniferus, ramis floriferis brevibus cum minoris inflorescentia; foliis minoribus cum margine revolutis leviter crenulatis; bracteis floralibus ovatisacuminatis vel ovatis apiculatis, non caducis; calyx minoribus, puberuli-tomentosi et glandulosi; corolla minoribus et alba.

Type:— SPAIN. Valencia: Paterna, Pla del Retor , heliophilus scrub on a sandy substrate, 39.314ºN, 2.652ºW, 90 m altitude, 18 January 2011, P . Pablo Ferrer Gallego & E . Laguna 001011 (holotype BC 878274 !, isotype SALA144523 !) .

Chamephyte, aromatic plant, shrubby and with a prostrate and creeping habit, appressed to the ground or up to 20 cm in height, grows radially, colonizing the substrate through rooting stems, dying off in the central part. Short stems 5–10 cm long, extensively rooting and intricate; flowering stems more erect. Leaves of variable size on the same branch, 5–20(–30) × (0.8–)1–1.5(–2) mm, linear-acicular, margin strongly revolute, acute apex and seated base. Inflorescence lax, few-flowered, (2–)4–8 flowers, lower bracts ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, 2–2.5 mm long, subpersistent and apex ribbed; with abaxial surface whitish-tomentose, hairs branched, adaxial surface glabrous; upper bracts ovatelanceolate, obtuse, greenish, glabrescent. Calyx campanulate 4–4.5(–5) × 3–3.5 mm; upper lip dark green, bright and glandulous, but without stellate hairs or, if any, these are very scarce; lower lip light green, glandulous and tomentose with abundant stellate hairs, with triangular ventral teeth (1–) 1.5–2 mm long. Corolla 8–9(–10) mm long, white or whitish with clear purple spots; lower lip with abaxial surface of central lobe shortly hairy on middle and apical part and longer, simpler or slightly branched hairs towards base near mouth of calyx tube, margin almost entirely or slightly fimbriated, lateral lobes with margin inrolled backwards. Staminal filaments shorter than style. Mericarps light brown, ovoid, 1.5–2 × 1–1.5 mm, with an insertion surface of approximately 1/2–1/3 of the total length of the elongated and unrounded nucule ( Fig. 1 and Table 1).

Etymology: —The subspecific epithet refers to the geographic distribution of this plant in Valencia, Spain.

Phenology: —Flowering from November to February. Fruiting from January to April.

Distribution and habitat: —The new subspecies is widely spread on the Valencian locality of Pla del Retor in Paterna, La Cañada, and vicinities of Burjassot and the population of Vallbona, with an approximately distribution area confined to the region of l’Horta and Camp de Túria. It inhabits calcareous or loamy-calcareous Miocene substrates, with a high sand fraction, typical environments of fossil dunes, along with species such as Thymelaea hirsuta , Thymus vulgaris , T. piperella , Anthyllis terniflora , Helianthemum cinereus subsp. rotundifolius , H. syriacum , Asparagus horridus , Viola arborescens , Globularia alypum , Brachypodium retusum and Atractylis humilis , among others, and some interesting and exclusive Valencian endemisms, such as Sideritis juryi Peris, Stübing & Figuerola and Teucrium edetanum M. B. Crespo, Mateo & T. Navarro , participating in vegetation stages of Rosmarinion officinalis Br. -Bl. ex Molinier 1934, belonging to a fragment of the Valencian endemic association Hippocrepido fruticescentis- Anthyllidetum lagascanae Stübing, Peris & Costa 1989 corr. M. B. Crespo 1999 ( Crespo 2001).

The territory is biogeographically ascribed within the southern portion of the Valencian-Tarraconense sector and within the northern portion of the Setabense sector, both from the Valencian-Catalan-Provenzal province ( De la Torre et al. 1996, Rivas-Martínez et al. 2002; Rivas-Martínez 2007) that, with a thermomediterranean thermotype and a drysemiarid ombrotype, is bioclimatically included within the Mediterranean xeric-oceanic bioclimate ( Rivas-Martínez 2007), with its Emberger index (Q) between 84 and 98.3 and the average temperature of the minima between 4.0º and 4.9 ºC, thus pointing to a Subhumid Temperate Bioclimate ( Guara 2002).

Conservation status: — Rosmarinus officinalis subsp. valentinus frequently hybridizes with subsp. officinalis . The largest populations are found in areas highly altered by human activity, which can result the loss of several populations in the future.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Rosmarinus officinalis subsp. valentinus: (a) habit; (b) leaves, adaxial and abaxial surfaces; (c) inflorescence detail; (d-e) bracts; (f) calyx, adaxial surface; (g) calyx, abaxial surface; (h) flower; (i) corolla, lateral view; (j) corolla, front surface; (k) corolla, inside surface; (l) corolla hairs; (m) fruit, adaxial and abaxial surfaces. Voucher: P. Pablo Ferrer-Gallego & E. Laguna 001011 (Pla del Retor, Paterna, Valencia province, Spain, BC878274, holotype). Illustration by Roberto Roselló.